task 5

TASK 5

The first game that I play by memory was a group of games on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System or its other name SNES. The group of games where star fox Starwing ,Mario, Donkey Kong , double dragon , killer instinct and a few others. The snes being the first console I had in ways inspired me into future consoles such as playstation one playstation 2 etc

 

Starwing my first snes game had been developed by Nintendo EAD with assistance by Argonaut software, released in 1993 it was the first three dimensional game of its time. Impacting the gaming community making the game a very successful release.

                  

The most memorable game from when I was a child was Heart Of Darknesss, released 1998 by Amazing studio released for Microsoft windows and play station. The whole scenario and storyline attracted me as soon as the opening intro had finished. About a boy Andy who is afraid of the dark with his trusty companioning whiskey (dog) whiskey being warped into a vortex due to the solar eclipse. Andy being a inventor rushes to his treehouse and travels through the vortex using his spaceship that he created. Through the vortex is a new world called the dark plains ruled by the master of darkness with his powers where the dark and shadows come to life. This is what got me fixed on the game the fact that a 10 yr old boy is stuck in a parallel universe his only fear is the dark and that shadows and the night come to life for instance a shadow from a tree can turn in to a hand and attempt to grab you. As well as the gameplay  it is a cinematic platformer .The other memorable parts for the game are the actions that Andy can do, he has the ability to run, jump, walk, climb and do the salto somersault, which lets him hang longer in the air. In addition to this, he can attack or defend by using either a plasma cannon or by throwing magic energy, depending on which section of the game is being played - although in some sections, he is not able to fight at all. The magic energy can be used to grow or destroy trees, and either weapon can be used in numerous ways. Andy can also climb up rocks, swim underwater and perform several other actions. The game is linear, the player spends the game completing puzzles, timing movements, or simply moving in order to get to the next screen. Backtracking to previous screens is rarely required. The game is notable for the number of disturbing ways that Andy can be killed, as with all cinematic platformers. Andy can be crushed, eaten, incinerated, drowned, and even have his back broken in numerous ways and get his head bitten off. Some of his deaths are unnervingly graphic, while others are somewhat cartoony.

 

What do I want from gaming in the future? Maybe something along the lines of the film Gamer using a motion sensor to carry out the actions of the player. For example you would hold a gun how you are suppose to hold a gun same as weaponry. It would feel like you a apart of the game instead of playing the game, bringing a more realistic approach to life combined with fun. But in doing so could maybe encourage violence and crime due to u no how to manually reload a gun or where key to hit someone for a instant knockout. Also nowadays it would be cool that your actions control the storyline just like the ward winning Heavy Rain for playstation 3 but to be added to most games instead of following one storyline you could create a few with different types of ending depending on the path that you choose to take.

task 3

Task 3

The developments between the 1980s and the 1990’s was the gaming industry changing from arcade,console,personal computers and later on handheld.. June 1980 Atari's Asteroids and Lunar Lander were the first two games to be ever copyrighted. 1889 - 1997 Gumpei Yokoi invented Game Boy, Virtual Boy, Famicom (and NES), as well as the Metroid series. As you can see pretty much every half a decade u can see a massive improvement in the game industry. From new micro chips to be able to play games faster and easier, and now the creation of handhelds. The creation of the handheld was a big hit but only to a certain extent, in the early years of the handheld games that where created by American companies pretty much got nowhere and was very unsuccessful. It was the Japanese companies that were making success off the electronic handhelds.

Even though the success was going great there was a few downfalls in 1971 the big game crash where companies had to sell their older consoles on to they wouldn’t go bankrupt and again 12 years later.

 In 1983 the second crash arrived and was much worse than the first, it took place in North America with losses worse than the first crash. Including bankruptcy to the North America companies which developed home computers and video games. The crash was that bad that he pretty much stopped the development of the 2^nd generation consoles. Not only that due to the crash it lead to the release of weak and poorly developed games example Pac man for the Atari 2600 the game suffered severely not only poorly developed but also the tight deadlines. Not only that more games where created than the actual consoles and the games were not selling increasing the bankruptcy in the companies in North America.

The third generation console was developed witch saved North America from their losses it was the super Nintendo entertainment system. With games such as Mario bros legend of Zelda metal gear solid made its debut also. The (snes) wiped up the crash that had happened dominating the North American and Japanese markets, and carried on till the next development of the next generation console in the 90’s. The handheld market also had a rise towards the 90’s due to the release of the gameboy advance and gameboy colour.

In the 90’s it was big change in the gaming world, the change from raster graphics to 3D. More companies where created time spent on games where increased higher budgeted games, this is where well for me games where born. The creation of the fifth generation console ps1 a big hit. The games that where developed followed sequels onto the ps2. From the game crash in the 80’s the whole gaming industry had recovered and brought them on top again.

task 2

Task 2

It was William A Higginbotham that created the game tennis for two in 1958 working at brookhaven, national laboratory at a U.S.A nuclear research lab in New York. his goal was to create a game that you could enjoy and at the same time learn, not learn anything major due to this was the first video game of its time and the computers back then are defiantly not what they are today. The game itself was to use a small analog computer to graph and display the trajectory of a moving ball, the game was simple but brilliant nothing to fancy the fact that this game u was able to play with another person instead of just the computer A.I itself. The game play was simple to basically up and down, just picture the side of a tennis court with the fence in the middle with a bouncing ball travelling left to right. To win and score points you would use the trajectory of the ball to get past the other player.

Another great time in its period again another simple but a much more interactive game again consists of two players to play. The game was called space war developed by three Wayne Witanen J Martin Graetz and Steve Russell. The trio wasn’t looking on copywriting the game it was basically just for fun and plus the console itself was the size of a fridge costing at $120,000. The game itself was a black background with a world in a middle and two ships on ever side each one controlled by the users. The ships called needle and wedge because of the ship design, the aim was to shoot the other player and to do that you would have to travel around the world and at the same time not to get shot by the other ship yourself. The game was very successful and was a popular choice to play in a arcade.

Pong another well known game and still known today the object of the game is the same as tennis for two. Two opposite sides competing to win using the trajectory of the ball to beat the other player. Developed in 1972 by Bushnell co-founder of the game company  ATARI. The name pong came from the sound of the ball bouncing of the sides of the screen.

To me I think it is significant basically the games that where created then have just expanded and developed from its predecessor. For example how are racing games today different from then? Answer is they aren’t the objectivity is exactly the same as it is now the only thing that’s different is the graphics due to the consoles used today. To be honest if these games weren’t created then games could be different today all these games are still known maybe you wouldn’t go out to buy them or download them unless you are fan, but these games are still found in simple places for example mobile phones, iPods and internet. They aren’t as famous as they where but they are still around today .

who am i

Ayy up, my names alex edwards a.k.a Nutty. i am originally from birmingham i chose this course for 2 reasons 1 reason being that it has always been a childhood dream to become a part of a games art team and the 2nd reason is i didnt thnik there would be a course to do with games art, so i seen the oppurtunity and taken it. This year i really need to knuckle down on the software side of things drawing is easy not so much the software. interests outside of the course are gym but unfortunatly cant go due to i have broken two fingers! i listen to all music but when out on the town i like to hear a bit of DUB STEP. my dream job would be to become a concept artist for a well known company such as Ubisoft,Capcom,EA etc.. and to get there i would need to achieve my BA hons in games art!